KingofGIF profile picture
KingofGIF profile picture

KingofGIF

AE

Politicker
Valued Contributor
Executive
+7

How to coach an underperforming colleague?

I'm having a great quarter, and the manager brought me in as an additional resource to help coach this new hire that is failing miserably.

Although I joined a few weeks before this person did, I ramped up faster. As I pass some trips and review how this person can improve, I realize that I must improve my coaching skills! This is a good exercise for deliberate practice as I plan to become a manager in the next few years.

Savages, how do you pass on to someone failing your tips and tricks?

How to coach an underperforming AE?

For context, this person was cocky stomping through the door, and I immediately noticed a sense of superiority and the "non-coachable factor". Of course, now that shit has hit the fan, behavior has changed, but I still notice a pattern of lack of ownership while blaming the onboarding, systems, or low-quality leads as defining factors to failure.

I like to receive transparent, direct feedback and wish to do the same here to shake things up (as in dude, wtf you can lose your job) while being helpful.


Is midnight here, and the rant is over.


Cheers

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14 comments

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Diablo
Politicker
3
Sr. AE
Are your reps highly depends upon inbound leads? 

Couple of things I'd:

- I would like to see the entire approach this guy has when closing a sales and I will try to understand where in the entire cycle is the issue (call opening/discovering/demo/ Nego etc.)


- I will compare this with what I and other performing reps in the org do
- I will jot down good and bad this guy goes
- I'll make an action plan and coach him eg. I'll put him on a shadow call so he listens to what others are doing and what mistake he is doing or what changes he can bring to be more successful. I'll always go a conference call (dedicate 30 mins a day) to see how he is doing and help him overcome if he is stuck anywhere.

This will be step 1 for me and the other action plan depends upon the outcome (2 weeks or so)
LordBusiness
Politicker
2
Chief Revenue Officer
The first step in mentoring another rep (and eventually leadership) is understanding with a high amount of clarity what you actually do that is making you successful.  Sure, no matter what role you are in, there is an element of timing - but what are the fundamental habits and processes that drive your consistent high performance.  Once you have those, its about creating "snackable" information delivery with accountabilty.   Teach and test.....if the rep you are coaching isn't on board - tell the TL and move on. 
KingofGIF
Politicker
0
AE
Two things:
-Love the name, LordBusiness.
- I am going to break down in small pieces what I've done 
LordBusiness
Politicker
0
Chief Revenue Officer
Thanks! Good luck!
justatopproducer
Politicker
2
VP OF SALES -US
Find what you do that is repeatable that made you succesful and be abke to teach it. Also, find what the rep underperforming values and what pushes them. I have a feeling the carrot in front of this rep isnt anything they value or find the need to work hard for.
Cornholio
Opinionated
1
Account Executive
Great advice on here so far. You also need to create an understanding with this rep and build some trust. You just went from his colleague to his coach and it sounds like they’re already being defensive about the process. So coming out of the gate too hot will only make them resist- have a frank conversation with them about the situation and that you are being asked to help. You’re having a lot of success and are here to be a resource and get them going in the right direction. Ask them about their process, pain points, etc. and once you have a full picture work with them on the plan to course correct
Closeitalready
Valued Contributor
1
Head of Sales
Great advices so far. 

What I would add is:  

Look at every step of the process and the conversion rate of the person. e.g. if there are 4 steps in the sales circle .. pitch, presentation, offer made, closing.. then look at each conversation. It can tell you where the person has difficulties. Maybe s/he is really good at cold calling so no need to step in there but you can see that from the phase of offer made to closing the conversion is rapidly dropping then I would have a look at this step first. 
BeatCancer
Fire Starter
1
Account Executive
Ask him to look whats inside the control circle and not outside.
Then say WE... the WE is very important so he doesn't feel you are pointing the finger. What can we do better in the sales process to make it easier for our customers to buy? If you can explain in more details I can try to chime in.
JustGonnaSendIt
Politicker
1
Burn Towns, Get Money
Coaching is all about being able to understand the person you're coaching's mindset and relating your lived experience thru that lens to help them make better decisions. It also hinges on building trust so they will see value in both your experiences and your effort to help.

It seems like there are some fundamental issues at play with your fellow rep that could distract from the goal of improving. In sales, we're all the ultimate owners of success and failure in our respective patches - Regardless of whatever convenient excuses or unfortunate realities happen to exist.

Instead of focusing on WHAT is leading to lack of performance, focusing on WHY is a much better starting point. Then focus on what is within that rep's sphere of influence to affect change on the current trajectory.

A great start is to buy this person a copy of "Extreme Ownership" by Jocko Willink. It's a pretty quick read (also available on audio) that will help at least provide a foundation from which you can build up helpful feedback.

The key to this whole coaching process (if you want it to success) is that they need to eventually come to an 'ah ha' moment and improve because they are invested in improving, not because yet another person is holding them down and making them do it. You're trying to instill a mindset shift here, not just give someone a to-do list.
BlueJays2591
Politicker
1
Federal Business Dev Director
Find out what they're doing that differs from what you're doing and see if there is an issue there. I think the best thing to do is to get them to accept ownership of their failures. They will be out of a job if they fail to do so. 
Blackwargreymon
Politicker
1
MDR
Are your reps highly depends upon inbound leads?
KingofGIF
Politicker
0
AE
yessir, this might be the most addictive substance in the sales world, perhaps only second to the "I will sign emails"
Do.it.for.the.checks
Politicker
0
Account Executive
Simple, tell them they fucking suck and it's your way or the highway.

I don't see how this won't work. And maybe add you get 50% of the commish until they are better
Error32
Politicker
0
ISR
Target 100-200 contacts at a time with specific messaging (email + phone) and track the success of that campaign.

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